The palaeolithic in southern China

in China has derived mainly from the study of Palaeolithic assemblages in northern China. In the past twenty years, however, many new Palaeolithic sites have been discovered in southern China that document the antiquity of human occupation in that region. Rich cultural and faunal inventories in association with early human remains bear important implications for understanding Southeast Asian prehistory and hominid evolution. This paper details the archaeological and human fossil materials recovered from 17 localities throughout southern China. We discuss the geological context and chronology for each locality. Our coverage includes a broad temporal range from the Lower and Middle Pleistocene Homo erectus sites ofLonggupo (Wushan), Yuan-mou, and Longtandong (Hexian) through the critical "transitional " stage from H. erectus to early Homo sapiens represented by remains from Yanhuidong (Tongzi) and Maba. We include a discussion of the lithic inventories from Upper Pleistocene loca-lities in Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Fujian that add a new dimension to the variability within the Southern Chinese Palaeolithic. EXISTING SCHOLARSHIP IN SOUTH CHINESE PLEISTOCENE ARCHAEOLOGY The difficulties of pursuing research on the Pleistocene prehistory of South China are compounded by the fact that until recently, very few archaeological reports from that region found their way into English or other Western-language literature. Those unable to read Chinese are still at a distinct disadvantage as far as gaining access to primary documentation is concerned (a fact amply demonstrated by this paper's bibliography), but several broad-ranging publications exist in English (e.g.